The golf team finished its season with the State Individual Tournament at Natanis Golf Course.

It was a sunny but windy day with the course very wet and lush. That meant that shots in the rough were in heavy, wet grass.

Sam Grindle shot an even par 72, which was not only second best in Class C to a 2 under par 70, but was also the second best overall in all three classes. Connor Morey repeated his round of 89 from the week before. This meant he was a very respectable 19th in the whole state for Class C. Sam Grindle will compete in the New England Championship Tournament, but not until June of next year.

The girls soccer team faces Central Aroostook at home on Friday, October 21, in a preliminary playoff. The exact time has not been set as I write this, but should be available on the HighSchoolSports.net Web site.

The girls needed overtime to beat Bangor Christian 1-0. We were missing Shiann Closson in goal and Paige Rollins for all but the very end of the game, meaning that players were playing out of their usual positions.

With Chelsea Brown in goal, it took away from her usual presence on the defense. We controlled the ball pretty well in the midfield, but we weren’t able to generate our usual offensive pressure on the goal.

Early in the overtime, Esther Adams brought the ball down the side and booted a shot the goalie couldn’t quite handle.

Janelle Ciomei ran into the goalie trying to get the ball across, and was almost called for interference but the other referee ruled that the ball had already crossed the line and Esther’s goal stood up. Goalie Chelsea Brown saved four of BC’s four shots and BC saved seven of our eight shots.

The girls won a sloppy game in the rain against Searsport 3-1. With the team back to its usual lineup, we played a well-controlled game with the usual teamwork. We scored all our goals in the first half and they were all scored by Janelle Ciomei. Julie Hutchins, Esther Adams and Emily Cormier made the assists in that order.

We really dominated the play, though Searsport was able to get a goal before the half. Though we had more opportunities in the second half and a couple of shots off the crossbars, there wasn’t any more scoring. Without a manager, we didn’t have any shot statistics.

The girls lost to Penobscot Valley 5-4 in overtime despite an inspired comeback. The weather was sunny and very windy on a sloppy field. We gave up four goals in the first half with the wind in our face, the last one a letdown goal with less than a minute left in the half.

Not only did the girls not panic, but also we stuck to our game of controlled passing. With 25 minutes left, Janelle Ciomei scored off an Esther Adams assist, and then she scored shortly after that from another Esther Adams assist.

Janelle Ciomei returned the favor by assisting an Esther Adams goal and finally Paige Rollins scored from a Chelsea Brown assist to tie the game with 14 minutes left.

As seems to be our fate, we had several good opportunities with a couple of shots off the crossbars but without a goal. With 40 seconds left in the overtime, PVHS was able to punch one home in a scramble in front of the net for the winning goal.

Coach Dennis Rollins felt we would have done well if we had survived the first overtime and had the wind at our backs for the second one. This was certainly a moral victory and we won’t be intimidated if we play them again in the playoffs, as they are the number two team at the moment. PVHS had us saving 11 of their 22 shots, and PVHS saved five of our 16 shots.

The girls battled to a 2-2 tie against a scrappy Bangor Christian team. We had more chances than they did, but a hot goalie made several excellent saves to keep them in the game. We scored first when Paige Rollins crossed the ball over to a wide-open Esther Adams who put it in the net.

Then BC was able to score, making it 1-1 at the half. We scored early in the second half when Paige Rollins drilled home a rebound. That held until just under 10 minutes when BC was able to score in a scramble in front of our goal. Despite being weary, we picked it up and made many good rushes and shots, but the darkness fell as the two overtimes went scoreless.

We got away from our controlled passing at times, and we just weren’t able to put in the good rushes we had to get the win. Though we refocused later in the game, it wasn’t meant to be. BC made eight saves on our 14 shots and goalie Shiann Closson made five saves on their seven shots.

The boys soccer team lost to Penobscot Valley 5-3 on the same muddy field the girls had played on. PVHS scored first, but then Kevin Melanio out-leaped everyone to head in a corner kick from Nathan Davis.

Kevin Melanio put in another goal from a Patrick Duddy cross to put us ahead. PVHS scored before the half to tie it up. Nathan Davis punched home a penalty kick to give us the lead back early in the second half. Though we gave up another two goals to lose the lead, we came back with what appeared to be a goal by Nathan Davis from a feed by Kevin Melanio.

However, the referee called it off sides and whether we liked it or not, the goal did not stand. That would have tied the game, but instead we trailed and lost 5-3. Goalie Hayden Torrey made 17 saves on 25 shots while PVHS saved 15 of our 20 shots.

All told, Coach Bennett Morey felt that we made a great effort and this was a positive game for the team. This was a moral victory for us, as we were aggressive with our offense and played even with PVHS. We showed we can play as a team and didn’t give up even when things didn’t go our way.

The girls are in seventh place. If they beat Central Aroostook, we will travel to No. 2 to Penobscot Valley, a team we have lost two close games with. We play well with our backs against the wall.

Assuming we play our passing game and are more aggressive on the ball (not you Chelsea), I like our chances to go deep in the playoffs. Other than at the beginning of the season, all our losses have been by one goal, so we can play with anyone.

The boys did not get the win they wanted, but played a very strong game against Penobscot Valley. With only a game against number one Bangor Christian, we most likely will not have a win this year.

That being said, we did climb much higher in the learning curve and developed a lot of experience and chemistry for next year. We had many one- or two-goal games in the second half of the season that could have gone our way with a break or two. It was not for a lack of effort. As a team, we worked harder and more together, and that will bode well for next year.